Gorilla Expense offers full integration to push timesheet data to Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online versions). Timesheets can be posted to Dynamics 365 as Job Journals (available for Microsoft Dynamics 365). 

Technical Overview

The integration is done using the Gorilla expense web application. Admin user will fetch all “Manager Approved” timesheets and send them to Dynamics 365 via the Dynamics 365 Web Service ODATA. ). This can be done on-demand by an accounting user. Below is the high-level representation of the various components involved. 

Please note that this architecture ensures that Gorilla Expense Cloud Infrastructure is unaware of customer ports, firewall, IP Addresses, and more importantly any Dynamics 365 specific details. While this enhances security, it also reduces the complexity associated with opening ports or making modifications to customers’ infrastructure. 

 

 

Functional Overview (Job Journal)

Typically, the integration is done by posting a timesheet as a Resource type document to the Job Journal Entry screen. The overall integration architecture & process is identical, irrespective of which Dynamics 365 screen you integrate with. The screenshot below shows a timesheet after it is posted to the Dynamics 365 BC Job Journal. The example below shows a timesheet GT58 with 40hr that is posted to the Dynamics 365 BC Job Journal from Gorilla Expense. 

 

The main fields in the above screen that Gorilla Expense sends to BC are as follows - 

  1. Batch Name – Batch Name will be ‘Gorilla’. It will be defined on the Integration setting screen. 
  2. Posting Date: The posting date can be set on the Integration setting screen in Gorilla Expense. It can be mapped to today’s date or timesheet entry date.
  3. Document No: This will be the Timesheet confirmation number associated with the timesheet report within the Gorilla Expense. Ex. GT58.
  4. Job No-The Job No is maintained in the back end on the project master within Gorilla Expense. Depending on the project (job) selected by the user, Gorilla Expense Integration will map the associated Job number to the Job Journal Line in BC.
  5. Job Task No-The Job Task No is maintained in the back end on the project task master within Gorilla Expense. Depending on the project task (Job Task) selected by the user, Gorilla Expense Integration will map the associated Job task number to the job journal line in BC.
  6. Type- It will be set to ‘Resource’.
  7. No- Depending on the client requirement, the No. can be either maintained on the user profile or can be made available for the user to select from a dropdown on each timesheet line. The integration can then be configured to map these values to the corresponding No. fields on the Job Journal Lines.
  8. Description- The description is prepared by selecting one or a combination of multiple fields on the integration setting screen. It can be set as a combination of timesheet description, user initials, and timesheet date.
  9. Unit of Measure Code- This will be set to ‘HOUR’.
  10. Quantity- This will be the time entered by the user on the timesheet within Gorilla expense.
  11. Location-Depending on the client requirement, the Location can be either maintained on the user profile or can be made available for the user to select from a dropdown on each timesheet line. The integration can then be configured to map these values to the corresponding Location field on the Job Journal Lines.
  12. Line Type- This can be set on the Integration setting screen within Gorilla Expense. The values can be Budget, Billable, or Both_Budget_and_Billable.

 

 

Timesheet Report Export Process (Web Application)

 

Select the Timesheet Reports that you would like to export from the Integration -> Export Timesheet menu. Select the status as ‘Manager Approved’, select the company from the dropdown list. Click on the ‘Show Approved Timesheets’ button to show all manager Approved Timesheets of a selected company. Select all timesheet reports and click on “Send to ERP & Update Status” button. This will send all timesheet reports that were selected to BC and will also update the status from Manager Approved to AP Approved or AP Paid, depending on the client’s preference.